Great Lakes Loons enjoying Midwest League playoff buzz

Bella Lindauer, for the Daily News

Updated 5:59 pm, Saturday, September 17, 2016

Excitement involving Midland’s very own Great Lakes Loons has been building over the past couple of weeks, and it will come to a head today when the Loons play in a championship game at Dow Diamond for the first time.

This year marks the first time in the Loons’ 10-year history that the team has advanced to the championship series of the Midwest League playoffs. They are currently two games into a five-game series against the Clinton LumberKings with the series tied at one game apiece.

During the past decade, the franchise has made the playoffs five times. Out of those five, they have advanced to the second round twice.

“Being in the (finals) playoffs is exciting. A franchise first,” said Paul Barbeau, Loons president. Barbeau has been with the organization since the beginning. “There aren’t many firsts left to accomplish. This is a huge milestone on our path from our first groundbreaking, to our first manager, our first pitch and our first playoff appearance.”

The journey to reach the championship finals has not been the easiest.

“The path has been hard,” Barbeau said. “During the season we had a lot of roster turnover. A lot of changes. We didn’t get into the playoffs until the second to last day. We’ve had delays due to weather. The team has been traveling long hours and had little home-field advantage. It’s been a hard journey and this team has developed character. They have a toughness and grit about them. The challenges they have faced didn’t stop them.”

On Sept. 13, the Loons defeated the defending Midwest League champs, the West Michigan Whitecaps, 5-2, to win the division, also a first, and move into the finals. Directly after the game the team traveled to Iowa to begin the five-game series. Earlier, the Loons took two of three games from the Bowling Green Hot Rods to move into the Eastern Division finals against the Whitecaps.

“Win or lose, just making it this far in the playoffs is a victory,” said James Cahilellis, who has been with the Loons for 6 years and is a group sales manager. “We’ve always been the Loons but right now we are the buzz around town. The energy and support from the fans and the community is uplifting. It picks everyone up.”

Although ticket sales are indefinite right now, a great amount of support is expected from the community.

“Making the finals has had a regional impact and a lot of community involvement,” said Jen Dore, who has been working for the franchise for 2 years. “We made history by making the finals but the chance to actually win this thing is huge.”

Dore is a corporate account executive.

“We sell a lot of tickets throughout the year and sometimes people can’t make games so they don’t get used, but playoff usage will be huge,” she said. “It shows a lot of involvement to have the community be a part of these milestones, like being able to actually sell tickets for Saturday’s game.”

The season had started out rough, but has transformed into something more.

“The fans have been great. The crowds have been loud,” Barbeau said. “It’s nice that it came at an anniversary. It would be nice to win here, at home, but losing wouldn’t diminish our excitement. It’s like that saying ‘what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.’ The challenges haven’t stopped this team yet.”

The quest for the championship will continue today at Dow Diamond at 7:05 p.m. Tickets are available for both weekend games.